Northeast Organic Farming Association (NOFA) Vermont is collecting donations for its Emergency Fund to support farmers in the state who have experienced unprecedented flooding. Over 40 farms have reached out to NOFA-Vermont to report losses already.
The USDA announced that, beginning in April, it will provide approximately $123 million in additional automatic financial assistance for qualifying farm loan program borrowers who are facing financial risk, as part of the $3.1 billion to help distressed farm loan borrowers that was provided through Section 22006 of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). The announcement builds on financial assistance offered to borrowers through the same program in October 2022.
The Central Coast of California was recently barraged with the highest rainfall it has seen in decades. The deluge has brought flooding, landslides, and loss of life and has destroyed homes and building structures. Notably, there is also ongoing damage to crops and fields. Many berry farmers have experienced an entire loss of crop within the span of a week. Others have lost farm labor support with closed roads and the inability to access fields.
An atmospheric river caused widespread flooding and landslides in California at the beginning of 2023, creating an estimated $5–7 billion of damage. Especially hard hit were farms in many rural areas adjacent to rivers that overflowed their banks, flooding fields, homes, and businesses. President Joe Biden approved a major disaster declaration for California, which triggered the release of federal funds to assist people and businesses affected by the damage.
Beginning January 1, 2023, all growers with ranches located in Groundwater Phase 1 Areas must start maintaining records for all nitrogen applied to crops, total nitrogen removed during harvest, and irrigation management information. This information will be used to submit the Irrigation and Nutrient Management Plan (INMP) summary report, which is due March 1, 2024.
In CCOF's recent blog post, “We are Essential: Pivoting to Stay Afloat,” Jamie Collins, of Serendipity Farms described a number of innovative ways they have responded to the challenges of farming during the global pandemic. Resiliency is one of the hallmarks of flourishing farms and responding quickly and appropriately to crises is key to thriving and growing as an operation.
Get yourself or your staff up to speed on maintaining your Organic System Plan (OSP) as quickly as possible with CCOF’s OSP Walk-Through Service. This service provides time to meet with our staff and learn how to use our systems to improve your users’ experience! Walk-throughs are led by a CCOF certification specialist and can be customized for your specific operation. By the end of the orientation, participants will understand:
We have taken the opportunity to reflect on our role and relationship with our certified members as major fires appear to occur more frequently and after learning of other tragic events affecting CCOF-certified operations.